Dish dangerous

In 2010, a British newspaper had reported that over half of Indian restaurants in the UK were likely to make customers sick. The study said it was “a combination of culture and language” that led to poor hygiene in Indian restaurants in the UK.
The report added staff at Indian establishments “just couldn’t understand the language and were unaware of food laws”. That was two years back, in another country. On August 10, the horror was closer to home. The show-cause notices issued last week to Mainland China and Pulla Reddy sweet shop at Somajiguda for not maintaining hygiene surprised many. “It was a case of cooked meat lying around for a long time and instances of severe hygiene worries,” says L. Vandan Kumar, additional commissioner (health and sanitation).
Inspection of eateries are a routine affair and all restaurants have to undergo them. While conducting raids, officials take into consideration aspects like water availability, storage of food, washing area, etc. “During the raid, it came to light that the washing area and the place for cooking were not up to the mark. The food available at that time was also two days old. So we disposed it and served them a notice,” says chief medical officer Shalini Devi.
Mainland China, on the other hand, maintains that “it was not a surprise raid but a monthly check that took place at 11 o’clock in the morning, before the restaurant starts its business”. G. Pulla Reddy was unavailable for comment. “The tricky part about food poisoning is that you can fall sick after eating food at home, at the road side and even at a five-star hotel,” says Harold Robin, hygiene manager for Park Hyatt. “You’ll fall sick only after two-three days after eating spoiled food.”
With an internal laboratory located at the hotel, it’s Harold’s duty to supervise and ensure that food and safety system is duly implemented. “I check the restaurants every day and when there is a supervising body, the chances of going wrong are less,” he says. About his views on whether restaurants should have CCTV cameras in the kitchen area, he says, “I don’t feel that CCTV cameras are required at all. Only when the restaurants are not following the rules, can you think of such a concept.”
“Restaurants are supposed to follow Food Safety and Standard Act, 2009 as these are the standard guidelines. We also follow the Food Safety Modernisation Act, these are international guidelines,” he adds.
A recurrent complaint against restaurants is that of recycling stale food. “It’s mostly about planning how much business you’ll have in a day. We make sure there is stock rotation and we purchase everything fresh. Plus, we don’t serve buffets as a lot of wastage takes place in that concept and the chances of food getting stale are very high,” he says. And what if after all this there is still some food leftover? “Well, we’ll have to throw it away then.”
SAFETY POINTERS
* A person suffering from skin diseases or even a cold should not be allowed to serve
* Cases of suspicion too can be brought to the attention of authorities
* You may need to submit “sealed” and “signed” samples, signed in the presence of witnesses
* If just one person is affected, instead of a few, it cannot be termed food poisoning
For more information log onto www.fssai.gov.in

Food safety: Toll-free number a huge hit

The toll-free number 1800 425 1125 at the office of the Commissioner of Food Safety is a huge hit. Just four weeks after its introduction, as many as 871 people have registered complaints through the service. Most of the complaints are against hotels. The service, which is available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., is receiving calls from across the state.
 The office of Food Safety Commissioner, a lesser-known department till recently, started hitting headlines just after the death of Sachin Roy Mathew, allegedly after consuming an Arabian dish ‘Shawarma’.
The office of Food Safety Commissioner launched the toll-free number on July 18, a week after the death of Sachin. The Commissioner has recently issued a directive to all hotels and eating establishments to flaunt the toll-free number at the counter. An employee at the toll-free service will record the name and address of the complainant.
 “Most of the complaints are against the eateries. Some call to file complaints against adulteration in packet foods. After registration, the complaints will be emailed to the Food Safety Officers in the respective districts,” said Prasanth, an the employee at the Food Safety Commission. Asked about the number of cases taken up by the Commission, he said that they were yet to sort out the number of such cases.
 “The Food Safety officers were busy conducting inspections in hotels. District offices will send details of probe to the head office,” he said. Reason behind Death Unclear
 The office of Food Safety Commissioner is yet to ascertain the real cause of death of Sachin. Anil Kumar, joint commissioner of Food Safety, said that they were yet to receive the post-mortem report and chemical analysis report. “Hopefully, we will get the report in a week,” he said.
On the same day of the death of Sachin, almost 10 people here had been hospitalised owing to food poison. However, the authorities are yet to come out with an authentic report on the real cause of death, he said.

Anti-tobacco groups demand ban on gutka sale in the Capital

‘We have brought in stringent laws to check smoking in public places’

Members of various non-government organisations working in the area of tobacco control have demanded that Delhi too join the various States across the country and ban gutka/smokless tobacco products sale in the Capital which will have a direct health benefit for over 10 lakh gutka users specially youngsters.

Voluntary Health Association of India executive director Bhavna Mukhopadhyay said: “We have met with the Delhi Chief Minister on Monday and asked her to consider the ban. Taking into account the health hazards related to chewing tobacco, which causes mouth, throat cancer at early years, eight States --Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh--have recently banned gutka, and pan masala.’’ These States have banned the sale, manufacture and distribution of gutka, khaini , pan masala containing tobacco, based on the regulation issued on 1 August 2011 by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Ms. Mukhopadhyay added that by banning gutka, the State Government in the eight States has demonstrated tremendous commitment towards safe guarding the health of people of India and protecting the masses, especially the youth from the growing menace of tobacco addiction.

The Association has now requested that the Delhi Government should also implement the ban on gutka sale in larger interest of younger generation who is falling prey to the tobacco menace and suffer premature death.

Delhi Health Minister Dr. A.K. Walia said: “The matter is under consideration and we have brought in stringent laws about smoking in public places. As for banning sale of smokeless tobacco products we still have to get this proposal cleared in the Cabinet and only then can this issue move forward.’’

India has the highest number of oral cancer in the world with over 75, 000 new cases of oral cancers a year. Gutka and other forms of chewing tobacco sold in small pouches across the country has become a very serious health hazard.

“Since gutka and pan masala are marketed as mouth fresheners, its habit starts at a very young age. Due to its flavoured taste, easy availability and low price, it is popular among children, youth and women. Gutka use is becoming an alternative choice in India as our social mores do not permit children or women to smoke cigarettes,’’ noted a release issued by the Association.

Gutka may be banned in City

Law dept okays proposal blessed by CM
There is bad news in the offing for tobacco chewers in the national capital. Taking the cue from several states that have already banned the product, the Delhi government is now working towards imposing a complete ban on the sale and distribution of chewable tobacco – gutka – in the city.
After a go-ahead from the law department, which looked into the legality involved so that the decision to ban cannot be later challenged in the court, the food safety department of the government is preparing a detailed proposal for Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s consideration.

The ban will be imposed after securing her approval and that of the Cabinet. According to a reliable source in the Delhi Secretariat, the move already has Dikshit’s blessings.

In mid-July, the food safety department had sought the law department’s opinion on the issue. The latter has now  given its  green signal, according to a senior official of the food safety department.

“After some tobacco associations challenged the decision to ban tobacco products in some states, we thought it prudent to make the ban in Delhi difficult to challenge in courts. The law department believes that there should be no problem in going ahead with the plan and government is well within its limits to impose the ban in this regard,” revealed the official, adding that not only will the sale and distribution of gutka be banned, but also its storage and manufacture within the city limits.

Ban duration
As per clause 30 (2) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the government can ban any product which is bad for health. “According to the Act, we can impose a ban for the duration of one year at time. However, it can be extended after each year,” clarified the official.

Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Bihar, Rajasthan and Goa have already banned the tobacco product under their respective public health laws. Recently, elders in Sarfabad village (Noida), about 20 km from national capital, banned gutka in their village where youngsters were becoming addicted to the products.

“Anybody who is caught selling gutka in the village will have to pay a fine of Rs 1,000 to the village panchayat while anyone found eating it will be punished by Rs 500 penalty,” said Vijay Yadav, a village resident.

Few takers for food safety authorities’ registration drive?

The registration drive by the apex food regulator, the Food Safety Standard Authority of India, to regulate food industry under the new food regulation has remained a non-starter.
Just around 23 lakh out of five crore food business operators in the country have enrolled under the legislation in the last one year. Also, only around two lakh food licenses have been issued so far against the target of 50 lakh. This has compelled the FSSAI to extend its registration and license drive by six more months.
As per the FSSAI regulations of 2011, all the food business operators including small-time food vendors have to be registered with the local authorities. Those having annually turnover of above Rs 11 lakh have to procure food license to operate their services in the absence of which their business would become illegal.
The registration and license of the food operators ended  on August 4. One of the objectives of the enforcement is to ensure that registration/ licensing provisions are fulfilled and food items are safe, hygienic, wholesome and free of contaminants. However, FSSAI officials are not too happy with the response.
In many States,  food business operators are opposing the new regulations and have termed them impractical.  The  food officials admit that  majority of the States do not have adequate manpower as well as monetary resources to move to the new food regime.

“No wonder that States like Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Assam, Goa and Gujarat beside Northeastern states including Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya did not even bother to attend the crucial meeting of the Central Advisory Committee of the Authority held mid-last month to review the progress of the registration process and State’s preparedness,” the official said.
Same was the case with the Union Territories like  Andaman & Nicobar Island, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep. They also did not attend the meet.
While Bihar is yet to create a separate department of food safety, Chandigarh has set up the  Food Safety Appellate Tribunal, but  not appointed its  presiding officer.
No laboratory is functioning in Jharkhand as no food analyst has been notified while Kerala is yet to notify adjudication officer and establish Appellate Tribunal so far.
However, Rajasthan has appointed food safety commissioner while additional district magistrate has been notified as Adjudicating Officer for 33 Districts.
The amended  FSSAI Act was notified  last year and food business operators were given one year time to apply for conversion/renewal of registration/licence.
Those in the food supply chain who have to obtain the license include food importers, hotels, restaurants, clubs/canteens, caterers, transporters, storage establishments, processing units.